Xiao Sanmao played games for an afternoon but had no feel for them. He logged off and went to the counter to chat with the internet cafe manager.
The manager looked at Xiao Sanmao's dark eye bags. "I say, you stayed up all night, played matches in the morning, and then played for half the day in the afternoon. Aren't you tired? You better not die of a sudden illness here..."
Xiao Sanmao scratched his messy hair. "I'm a bit sleepy, but I won't die here. Don't worry, if I feel like I can't handle it, I'll definitely go out and won't cause you any trouble."
"..."
When Xiao Xun woke up again, it was already past seven, almost eight in the evening.
As he sat up, his head felt groggy, sweat trickled down his forehead, and his whole body was drenched in sweat.
He stood up and took two steps, his legs felt weak, and he almost fell to the ground.
Xiao Sanmao lay half-reclined on his chair, his eyes closed, his mouth wide open.
Seeing Xiao Xun's pale face and sweat-soaked body, the internet cafe manager quickly went to support him. "Brother, are you okay?"
Xiao Xun waved his hand, almost passing out.
The manager reached out and touched his forehead. "It's so hot! You're sick."
He argued, "Maybe I caught a cold from the wind. I'll be fine after drinking some water and resting."
The manager directly had him sit on a sofa chair nearby, then ran into the counter to find a box of opened Huoxiang Zhengqi water. After checking the date and confirming it wasn't expired, he handed it to Xiao Xun.
"Drink some of this first!"
Xiao Xun felt weak all over. After drinking the medicine, whether it was a psychological effect or the medicine starting to work, he felt much better than before. However, the buzzing of the machines throughout the internet cafe made his head ache incessantly.
"It seems I should go home and rest."
As he walked out, the manager stopped him. "Brother, you're still sick. Don't catch a cold from the wind again."
"I'm just going out for a bit. It's fine."
After saying that, he walked out directly.
The sky was overcast at this moment, as if a heavy rain was about to fall.
When he left, he was afraid his cousin would think he was just faking it, so he left the house key and the apartment access card. Now, he could only sneak in with others.
After entering the community, he checked his phone. His cousin hadn't called him yet. Without the access card, he couldn't get into the building.
The sky gradually darkened. He took two steps back. The rented apartment was still dark, clearly indicating his cousin hadn't returned yet.
At this moment, the sky was covered with dark clouds. A flash of lightning split the sky, instantly illuminating the originally dark expanse.
Raindrops the size of soybeans met Xiao Xun unexpectedly with thunder and strong winds.
Xiao Xun felt both cold and hungry. Being sick already, if he waited any longer, he would surely die here.
The rain grew heavier and showed no signs of stopping. He didn't know when it would end, so he could only brace himself against the wind and rain and run back towards the internet cafe.
Passing through a small alley, whether it was due to the dark and slippery road or his illness,
Xiao Xun's knees buckled, and he fell straight into the rain, landing face-first. Fortunately, his left arm did not suffer secondary injuries.
Before he passed out, he saw a woman in a black trench coat at the mouth of the alley, wearing black high heels with red soles, holding a black umbrella and walking towards him.
From Xiao Xun's angle, he couldn't see her full appearance, only her fiery red lips.
The woman, without even looking at Xiao Xun, walked past him. Unexpectedly, Xiao Xun instinctively grabbed the woman's ankle, muttering, "Sister, I'm sorry, I will never again..."
The woman leaned down slightly, looked at the man in front of her with no expression on her face, and took out her phone to call for an ambulance.
Before long, an ambulance wailed through the wind and rain.
Xiao Xun tightly held the woman's leg. No matter what the stretcher bearers and paramedics did, he wouldn't let go.
There was no other choice but to let the woman go with them on the ambulance.
The woman's expression was serious. She didn't say or ask anything along the way.
The paramedic only performed basic wound treatment and then looked at the woman dressed all in black curiously. "Miss, what is your relationship with the patient?"
"Don't know him. Just passing by."
Her tone was so cold that the doctor was reluctant to ask her another question.
As the ambulance was being unloaded from the stretcher, Xiao Xun let go. The woman turned to leave, but she was stopped by the stretcher bearers.
"Miss, you can't leave until things are cleared up, or we'll have to call the police."
The woman said nothing, entered the emergency room lobby, stood in a corner, and made a phone call. Upon connecting, she said only one sentence, "Come to the central hospital emergency center to pick me up."
At this moment, the doctor who treated Xiao Xun came out, handed the woman a slip, "Go over there to pay the bill!"
The woman didn't reach out to take the slip, but instead took out a bank card and handed it to the doctor.
The doctor was startled and didn't take it. He removed his mask and said to a nearby nurse, "Go help this lady pay the bill."
The nurse took the slip from the doctor and then took the woman's card. She went to the cashier's office.
The cashier looked up, "Hey! Nurse Liu, why are you paying? Is a relative of yours sick?"
Nurse Liu turned and glanced at the spot where the woman was sitting in the lobby. "No! I'm paying for someone else."
"Who is so grand? Having a nurse pay for them."
Nurse Liu gently tapped the counter. "I don't know. Hurry up! I have a lot of work to do."
The cashier handed the payment slip and the bank card to Nurse Liu. Nurse Liu rushed back to the woman, handed her the bank card, and went into the treatment room with the slip.
The woman put the bank card away, lightly resting her chin on her hand, her gaze fixed on the wall, lost in thought.
About twenty minutes later, Xiao Xun walked out of the emergency room. He had a few scratches on his face that had been treated and covered with band-aids, looking quite disheveled.
His left hand was bandaged, and his right hand held a packet of medicine. He walked up to the woman.
"Thank you, sister. I'll find a way to pay you back."
The woman looked up at Xiao Xun. "First, I am not your sister. Second, I don't need you to pay me back."
Her voice was devoid of any emotion, as if she were reading from a book.
At this moment, an uncle in a suit rushed in from the main entrance. He approached the woman and was about to speak when she raised her hand to stop him.
As she was about to leave, she glanced down at the medicine in Xiao Xun's hand and said to the man who had entered, "Give me a business card."
The man quickly took out his business card holder, pulled out a card, and respectfully handed it to the woman with both hands.
The woman took the card with one hand and slipped it into the plastic bag Xiao Xun was holding. "If you want to pay me back, come find me here!" With that, she turned and left without looking back. The man quickly followed, opening the door ahead of her and opening his umbrella, leading her to a "nanny van."
Xiao Xun took out the high-quality hard plastic business card from the plastic bag. It read: St. Roman Group, General Manager Wang Sucheng, along with a phone number and contact information.
Xiao Xun tucked the business card close to his body, took out the medical bill, and looked at the cost of over six hundred yuan. He gritted his teeth and clenched the bill tightly in his hand.